SAN ANTONIO – A New Braunfels man was sentenced Wednesday to 14 years in federal prison for exchanging nude photos and videos with a minor.
After he serves his prison sentence, Jonathan Travis Flora, 35, must serve 15 years of supervised release.
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According to court documents, Flora met a Canadian girl in July 2018 while playing an online video game.
The two held conversations that were often sexual in nature and exchanged nude photos and videos of themselves through gaming communication features as well as a phone messaging application, court documents said.
In March 2019, Flora bought a cellphone with a Canadian area code to continue communicating with the girl under the guise that Flora was a classmate, court documents said. The following month, the girl’s father received an unusually high phone bill and found that the child had exchanged more than 2,000 phone messages in 15 days. The girl then disclosed her interactions with Flora. The Ontario Provincial Police then initiated an investigation that led to Flora’s arrest.
“Preying on children will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas. “This case reminds us that sexual predators can be found lurking in a multitude of places, including online video games, but it also shows the dedication shared by federal, state and international law enforcement to protect children and aggressively pursue those predators who manipulate them and prey upon their innocence.”